Porter v. Bangor & Aroostook Railroad

BAILEY ALDRICH, Senior Circuit Judge.

Mark J. Porter, an experienced brakeman employed by defendant Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Co., injured his back on October 1, 1992, while adjusting a rusty car coupler device that had previously failed to couple automatically with another car. He seeks recovery under the Federal Safety Appliance Act (FSAA), 45 U.S.C. § 2, 1 a statute that has been ruled to impose liability without fault, San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company v. Wagner, 241 U.S. 476, 36 S.Ct. 626, 60 L.Ed. 1110 (1916), when a violation contributed in any degree to an employee’s…